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The Bottom Line: A Smart Play

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One of the more surprising fight announcements of 2022 came when the MMA world learned that Petr Yan would seek to rebound from a split decision title loss to Aljamain Sterling by taking on The Sugar Show, popular rising star Sean O’Malley, at UFC 280 this Saturday in the United Arab Emirates. Yan has fought a former Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder or title challenger in each of his last five fights, while O’Malley for the most part has been carefully matched against lighter competition in the Octagon.